Day 2 of life outside of Betfair, and already bored and depressed – after years of being institutionalised within Betfair I feel lost and alone, like Brooks in the Shawshank Redemption. I’m contemplating carving my name on a rafter in my office and hanging myself with my Betfair tie. Goodbye cruel world. But there’s no great rush as it’s another great days …
Secret squirrels
I normally disclose everything about my horses on here, but occasionally I have to keep mum for the sake of my co-owners. Today was one of those days – two days ago a new syndicate completed the purchase of a horse called Parisian Gift. I have 1/8, as does Mick. He was strongly fancied – the syndicate had a good old fashioned gamble on him, sending …
Irish tour
I’m still having a busy time in the run up to Christmas. On Thursday night I went to a do in the city – later on the Duke and Duchess of York turned up (separately), giving me my celebrity action although I didn’t talk to them. I got to Heathrow late, meeting Tom Goff, and we flew to Cork – from there we …
Maternity leave
It was a big day for me yesterday, with Betfair finally launching the SP mechanism. I kicked the product off over 2 years ago, but it was a year and a half before we started work on it (the Betfair roadmap is permanently backed up). It is a very big piece of work – in many respects the biggest single …
No rest for the wicked
The story rolls on – Felon escapes the clutches of the BHA but walks straight into the arms of France Galop. If he fails his B test and gets some more time off he will at least be able to update and release his long awaited autobiography, and it’s going to be a cracking read. I’m having a bad time betting at …
Infamy infamy…
… they’ve all got it in for me. Fallongate abruptly winds to a merciful close, the Fallon six walk free and the recriminations begin. I haven’t read all of the papers yet. One article I read said that the case is “far from over”, suggesting that Fallon and others may seek compensation. Another simply says that there was never any evidence against …
Day out
There was a Betfair board meeting on Monday followed by the board Christmas dinner at a London restaurant. This finished at around 11 and I headed off to Suffolk. I got badly lost heading out of London but eventually found the M11 – I arrived at Ickworth House (www.ickworthhotel.co.uk) at around 1 a.m. I had hoped to stay at Newmarket overnight, …
Michel Ma Belle
At last!! I’ve been saying for a long time that Mon Michel is a decent result waiting to happen, and it’s gratifying to finally have a decent win to prove the case. I thought he ran an excellent race, finding just a little extra at the end when asked, which is something he hasn’t really done before. He isn’t the …
Hennessy
A great day’s racing and a runner in the Hennessy meet in the shape of Mon Michel. MM’s flat form suggests he likes soft ground, but he’s changed as he’s grown up and he prefers it better now – it could be a little on the soft side for him, but it’s a nice day and he’s in the last …
Triskaidekaphobia
Lilac Moon runs in the 3:30 at Lingfield today in an all age 0-62 handicap. Nicky says she is better than ever – looking great in her coat and dead keen to get on the gallops at home. When we got her she was a little lame and for a while she was a bit reticent to train, but her …